Kansas State basketball counting on Nae'Qwan Tomlin to deliver in NCAA battle with Kentucky

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Nae'Qwan Tomlin showed his value and importance to Kansas State's NCAA Tournament success on Friday night, first by his absence and then by his dominating presence.

Two early fouls all but took Tomlin, the Wildcats' athletic 6-foot-10 forward, out of the equation for the first half of their 77-65 first-round victory over Montana State. By staying on the court for 15 1/2 minutes after intermission, he helped put K-State over the top.

It is that Tomlin the Wildcats hope to see more of when they take on perennial national power Kentucky at 1:40 p.m. CT on Sunday in their East Regional second-round battle at the Greensboro Coliseum. No. 3 seed K-State (24-9) is an early 1.5-point underdog against No. 6 Kentucky (22-11).

After playing only 4 1/2 minutes with no points or rebounds in the first half, Tomlin came back to score 13 points in the second period. Using his quickness, he took Montana State's big men as well as the guards off the dribble on the perimeter, while simply shooting over the Bobcats once he got to the paint.

"He was great," K-State guard Cam Carter said of Tomlin, the junior college transfer who never played organized basketball in high school. "He's pretty versatile, and no five-man in the country can guard him."

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Indeed, Tomlin made 6 of 7 second-half shots, including a layup off a Markquis Nowell lob 10 seconds into the period as the Wildcats built on their 34-28 halftime advantage. He was a major reason K-State shot 65.4% from the floor in the half and 58.2% for the game.

"My teammates were just telling me, 'The second half's going to be your half and we're going to get you more involved,' and that they needed me," Tomlin said. "I appreciate that.

"They tried to keep me level-headed and tried to keep my head up, because when I get in foul trouble, I get down on myself."

Backup big man Abayomi Iyiola gave the Wildcats eight effective minutes off the bench, especially on defense, in Tomlin's absence. But he also made sure Tomlin understood the importance of keeping him on the floor.

"I told Nae'Qwan, you have to be smart, because we really need you to be out there during the game," said Iyiola, the 6-10 graduate transfer from Nigeria, who previously played at Stetson, Arkansas and Hofstra. "I told him we need him to stay on the floor, and that's what he did the second half."

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Forward Keyontae Johnson, who led the Wildcats with 18 points and eight rebounds, noted that Tomlin's ability to impact the game both inside and outside on offense made all the difference in the second half.

"It helps a lot in spacing out the floor for us," Johnson said. "He's a position-less player and he can attack all the bigs, he's faster than the bigs.

"So for him to come out (like that) makes everybody better."

The Wildcats already got a big game from their two stars, Johnson and Nowell, who had 17 points, 14 assists, six rebounds and three steals. Adding Tomlin to the mix made them that much better.

Against Kentucky, which features a pair of prominent 6-9 forwards in seniors Jacob Toppin and Oscar Tshiebwe, it is imperative that Tomlin stays out of foul trouble. Toppin had 18 points and six rebounds, while the 260-pound Tshiebwe added eight points and a staggering 25 rebounds in the Wildcats' 61-53 first-round victory over Providence.

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Tshiebwe's 25 rebounds were the most in an NCAA first-round game since Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes grabbed 27 for Houston in 1968.

K-State coach Jerome Tang summed it up while sitting on the stage next to Johnson, Nowell and Tomlin for the postgame news conference.

"I just feel when these three guys are on the floor, we're hard to guard," Tang said. "So whenever Nae'Qwan stays out of foul trouble and is on the floor, he's a mismatch, because it doesn't matter what position he's at.

"We just want to keep him aggressive on the offensive end, and he was in the second half because he got to play, and he got 20 minutes (for the game). If we can get 30 (minutes) out of him, then we might be really good."

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Tomlin holds the key to K-State success against Kentucky